Health Talk Live: Extended Expert Panel on COVID-19 Vaccines

During a recent takeover of Local 12’s noon news broadcast from TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic, Liz Bonis was joined by a panel of experts to provide in-depth news and information and answer questions about COVID-19 vaccines as well as local efforts to distribute them. The panel included:

• Stephen Blatt MD, Medical Director for Infectious Diseases at TriHealth
• Paul Waller MD, a family medicine and urgent care physician with TriHealth Priority Care
• Terri Hanlon-Bremer, TriHealth Vice President of Employer Solutions who is leading TriHealth’s vaccination program
• Greg Kesterman, Health Commissioner, Hamilton County Public Health

The panel covered questions and topics such as:

• Their own experiences and side effects with the vaccine, including the second dose, and why they received it to protect themselves, their patients, their families and their community
• The latest news on COVID-19 numbers and hospitalizations
• The safety of COVID-19 vaccines and how they work
• Dispelling some of the common myths around COVID-19 vaccines and calming some nervousness in the community
• Where we currently stand in the Ohio Department of Health’s plan for distribution, who is currently eligible, and how local health systems and organizations are collaborating to achieve our goals
• The outlook for adding a third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson and what impact that might have
• The effectiveness of the vaccines when considering mutations of the virus
• The impact of vaccination efforts on the wearing of masks and social distancing and how we can achieve herd immunity